Anyway, the first week has continued to be great. I get to walk around the city a lot between my three classes that have walking tour components and the general exploring we do on our own everyday in search of restaurants or gelato. On Tuesday I had the morning free and managed to get myself into one of the two closest shopping areas via some random, residential backstreets without getting lost. I was pretty proud of that. By now, though, that's old news. In that same adventure I went over to the Santa Sabina Basilica (mentioned below) and started working on a watercolor.
While I was painting an elderly Italian woman started trying to tell me something about the church. I was simultaneously ecstatic that she was actually speaking in Italian (most people here automatically jump to english without even giving us a chance) and struck by how ridiculous it was that I didn't even remember how to tell her I didn't understand. Hopefully that will change... Yesterday I had a walking tour for my Ancient Arts of Rome class, which seems like it will be fabulous. The professor is pretty quirky but awesome and has a very dry sense of humor. We went to the Centrale Montemartini, part of the Musei Capitolini. This museum used to be an old industrial building and the old machinery now serves as a backdrop to the classical busts and sculptures that are on display. It's a really bizarre combination but I thought it was really cool. I would love to go back there with a camera before I leave.
Today's walking tour was for my seminar on Bernini, taught by one of the heads of the program who we affectionately refer to in conversation (not to his face) as Dad. It was a gorgeous day and a fabulous way to spend 4 hours of class time. We went to the Palazzo Farnese, a Renaissance palace that currently houses the French Embassy. No cameras allowed. (Blame the French). There's a famous fresco cycle by Carracci that we saw among other things. I also bought a cute little guide to nice caffes and views in Rome with water color illustrations. It was too perfect to pass up, aside from the fact that it's all in Italian! Stopped for a coffee break as a class at an eclectic little bar and then went to another buidling to see what's referred to as the "Sistine Chapel of Mannerism."
All-in-all a really good morning. Other highlights so far have included going to this popular deli/grocery store called Volpetti's where they love the students here adn spoil us with lots of samples, hitting up the closest gelato place a few too many times, adn an Italian barista singing along to U2's "Still Haven't Found What I"m Looking For" while my friend and I sat drinking our cappuccinos (this time it was before lunch...totally kosher.)
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